Baptist open heart surgery ranked top

Baptist Hospital’s open heart surgery programme ranks among the best in the United States, according to the Society of Thoracic Surgeons.

The Society awarded the hospital a three-star rating, its highest quality rating, for outstanding results in coronary artery bypass surgery, after analysing data from January 2011 through December 2011.

The Society of Thoracic Surgeons’ database is the largest registry of its kind in the world, with nearly 1,000 participants representing an estimated 94 per cent of all adult cardiac surgery centres across the United States. Only 12 to 15 per cent of those receive the maximum three-star rating.

“The STS gives consumers a way to compare hospitals because it bases its ratings on survival rates, the absence of complications, meeting standards in medication usage and hospital re-admissions, among other quality measures,” said Wayne Brackin, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Baptist Health International, which operates the hospital. “The collaboration of our surgeons and staff make for better outcomes for patients.”

Easy tool

Dr. Niberto Moreno, medical director of the Baptist Health Cardiac and Thoracic Surgical Group, a part of Baptist Health Medical Group, said the national database gives patients a simple way to determine the quality of the heart surgery programme they are considering.

“The database provides information that patients can understand when it comes to making comparisons. We have always been committed to providing the highest level of excellence in care for our patients. Critical cases like these require close coordination among specialists, nurses and other staff,” Dr. Moreno said.

“To be recognised twice by STS places our programme on par with the most prestigious open heart surgery programmes in the country,” said Dr. Lynn Harrison, clinical director of cardiac surgery for Baptist Health Cardiac and Thoracic Surgical Group and Florida International University’s Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine’s chief of the division of cardiothoracic surgery.

Baptist Hospital’s open heart surgery programme ranks among the best in the United States. – Photo: File